Every year the video game industry comes out with new upgraded games reflective of the advanced technology that make it possible. Designers work hard to create satisfying and pleasurable experiences for the player through user interfaces and good design practices. In turn the game’s websites are upgraded alongside our expectations. However, since each game has its own goals to accomplish, each game website will look and feel extremely different.
Fe: Into the Forest, Welcome
Fe is a 3D puzzle platform adventuring game where the story is up to the player to discover and the game is explained purely on the discoveries made during gameplay. The website for Fe created by EA is a stand-alone scrolling promo site. On the main landing page is the option to buy the game, but scrolling down gives the viewer more information, news updates, and offer widescreen screenshots of gameplay to highlight the purposes of the game.
This is a very successful website that takes full advantage of the idea of scrolling downward to gain more information. Each part is maximized to take up the entire viewing screen and the website is also responsive keeping to the same aspects as seen from the wider screen option with any size window. These kinds of websites are also closely related to narrative websites since they want to tell the story of the game it’s trying to immerse you in. The designer wanted to replicate the same atmosphere to that of Fe while convincing the viewer this is a game they want to play. The designer made these choices since it draws the viewer in and suggests the opportunity to discover more about the game of their own will rather than being obnoxious about promoting their game.
Injustice 2: Every Battle Defines You
Injustice 2 is the sequel to Injustice, which is a fighting game themed around the DC universe where the player gets to customize and fight with their favorite characters. The promotion website for injustice can be a stand-alone, although the entirety of its website is organized by a landing page and tabs rather than putting it all on one scrolling page.
The design for this website fits the game’s mood and tone as most promotion websites should. This kind of website is related to informational sites as it shows a lot of detailed information about the game and the community. The most interesting aspect that isn’t seen on other websites is the infinite side-scrolling feed at the top where it shows the posts Injustice made to their twitter. The designer wanted to resemble a news feed giving the latest updates about the game almost like the news giving updates about each character in the superhero world. An effective parallel adds to the website and the way they want to present and organize their information shows. The only thing the website could do better is the responsiveness. The website does have a smaller version of the site probably readable for a phone, but if it’s resized only a little bit it won’t resize itself.
NetherRealm Studios
In addition to Injustice 2, the studio that created the game has an equally appealing company site. NetherRealm’s website opening is a look inside their studio and once clicked, it opens into a scrolling website with a hidden menu at the top containing extra information. This is a creative professional type of website that showcases the work they’ve done and providing information about who they are.
This kind of website is closely related to portfolio sites since it also contains a tab about career opportunities with the studio including a hyperlink to their main company page. The information is organized into blocks but made interesting by varying a background silhouette or choosing where the pictures will be. This layout makes it easier for the viewer to read, accept the information, and feel more inclined to look at the rest of the site. The designer might’ve been thinking about how to maximize the feeling of each page by making the menu discrete, often like how games can toggle what’s on display. It makes each page feel distinct and its own.
About One-Page Design
Overall, one-page websites are a good idea to display a very specific idea, although that does not necessarily mean a ton of text information. One-page websites should be exploratory and narrative in nature, rather than force viewers to scroll all the way down to find the information they need. If there’s a lot of different topics of information needed, then an organized menu of tabs and pages would be more effective. As our devices change and technology advances, one-page websites may evolve in the future, or become obsolete.